Biography of Ebrahim Raisi

Ebrahim Raisi was an Iranian cleric, prosecutor, and politician who served as Iran’s head of the judiciary (2019–21) and later as the country’s president (2021–24).

Early Life

– Ebrahim Raisi was born in 1960 in Mashhad, Iran’s second biggest city.
– He was raised in a clerical family and received a religious education.
– In 1975 he attended seminary in Qom, the foremost intellectual center of Shiʿi Islam.

Career

– Raisi dedicated his career to upholding the Islamic republic against internal opposition.
– He became the deputy prosecutor in Tehran at the age of 25.
– He served as a prosecutor for various jurisdictions, including Karaj city, Hamadan city, and Hamadan province.
– He became head of the General Inspection Organization (1994–2004) and prosecutor general of the Special Court for the Clergy (2012–21).
– He was first deputy to the chief justice (2004–14).
– In 2016 Khamenei appointed Raisi custodian of the shrine of ʿAlī al-Riḍā in Mashhad, placing him in charge of Iran’s largest charitable trust.
– He ran against the incumbent Hassan Rouhani in the 2017 presidential election, criticizing Rouhani for concluding an international nuclear agreement that conceded too much while also failing to improve the socioeconomic condition of all but the wealthiest Iranians.
– Upon his appointment as head of the judiciary in 2019, Raisi immediately pursued corruption cases against government officials and prominent businessmen.
– He ran in the presidential election of 2021, he continued to project himself as a principled defender against government corruption.
– He voiced support for negotiating an international nuclear agreement that would take into account Iranian interests.

Ebrahim Raisi visit in Pakistan

Ebrahim Raisi Presidency

– He inherited a pervasive crisis that was brought about by international sanctions and the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
– He showed more concern for regime security than economic relief at the beginning of his term.
– His first budget proposal allocated a significant increase in funding for the defense establishment but maintained austerity in domestic spending.
– The government ramped up its COVID-19 vaccination drive early in his presidency, but little was done to remedy the ailing economy, despite a water shortage and rising inflation.
– Little urgency was shown toward renewing the JCPOA, which would have lifted sanctions; Raisi first sought to strengthen ties with China and with Iran’s neighbors (including restoring relations with nearby Saudi Arabia in 2023) before engaging seriously in negotiations with the West.
– By the time a renewed deal was close at hand, new geopolitical developments had made the timing difficult for closing the deal.
– In line with the increased investment in regime security, the government clamped down on dissent.
– It stepped up surveillance and censorship, including the enforcement of state-sanctioned attire by the so-called morality police (Gasht-e Ershad), and the number of executions spiked.
– Women, as well as ethnic and religious minorities, were disproportionately affected.

Death

– Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2024, near Jolfa, Iran, at the age of 63.

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